The Seesaw
by The Unwritten One
Summary: Two twin brothers, both rising stars in the music industry, find themselves trapped in an abandoned hotel, along with a dozen of others. All of them have been brought there by the notorious killer, the Seesaw, an killer inspired by the Saw franchise, who has brought the lesson from Jigsaw from fiction into reality. In the end, you can't run, you can't hide. Live or Die.
1. Card 0 - The Fool

_I know, I know. Another story... Ah well, in my defense, this is the only way I can justify writing fanfiction for a school project (and sneak in some hours writing others). Say whatever you like, all kinds of comments are welcome._

_Before I forget: this is rated M, but rather because of the gore that comes with Saw, not because of Lemons or anything of the sort._

* * *

The world famous twins Jake and Ryan Evans are known worldwide as the latest rising stars of the music industry and have already won many prizes, but for the last few weeks the whole world has focused its attention on them for an entirely different reason. Just two months ago the popular twins mysteriously disappeared, only to return a few days later. Leaving their fans in fear of what could possibly have happened to them. The police were reluctant to admit to anything at first, but now it has been confirmed that Jake and Ryan had fallen victim to the latest serial killer that holds the nation in fear. This killer, dubbed 'the Seesaw' by the media, abducts his victims seemingly randomly and keeps them in abandoned places where he places them in murderous devices and situations modelled after the 'traps' by the fictional serial killer from the famous horror franchise Saw. Tonight we have Jake with us who will tell the world for the first time about his experience during those short few days. Hello Jake.

_Hello._

So Jake, it has been two months since you escaped from the clutches of the Seesaw. Why did you wait this long before enlightening your fans on the events of your captivity?

_I didn't mean to keep anything from my fans. One of the first things I did in fact was reassuring them that Ryan and I were all right. We waited partly because of the police investigation, since they are, of course, after the one behind all this and they can't have any details leaked to the press carelessly. They also wanted to know everything we went through as soon as possible to get the investigation on the road._

You mentioned that you partially waited with this interview because of the investigation, what more held you back?

_Well, what held me, both of us actually, back from doing this interview, or any other interview for that matter, was because we also needed some time for ourselves to calm down a bit. We both are seeing a psychiatrist, for obvious reasons, and he also advised us to rest as much as we could and sort things out for ourselves and made sure that everything had settled down a bit, for ourselves at least._

And yet you are already sitting here with us tonight, how come?

_It's a bit hard to explain but I feel like I owe my fans a bit of an explanation as to what went on. I'm not allowed to talk freely about it, regarding the police investigation, but I think doing this might help them understand the situation a little better. I'm nowhere near over it, I don't think anyone would be able to get over this in any given amount of time, but I want people to understand what happened, even if it's only for the tiniest bit._

You're here alone, right? Then how come your brother is not with us? Is he having more trouble with the trauma?

_Both yes and no. He's having a hard time dealing with it, but it's also not like he's on the very edge. We're both trying to make sense of it all and are trying to give it a place, but Ryan feels that he needs to make sure he is alright first before he starts to talk about it, while I personally feel that talking about it will actually help me sort it out. Ha, I suspect that he's either watching this right now and thinking: 'What the hell?' or he is jamming on his guitar._

But who of you is having a harder time right now? You're able to talk to us right now, but your brother sounds like he's rather all right too.

_I don't think I'm a very good judge of that. We might be twins, but it's not like we can actually read each other's thoughts. We are alike, but we are not the same and that's very important to keep in mind. We're both dealing with this differently and I'm not sure anyone has the right to say that one of us is doing worse than the other._

Are you both in a condition to work on your music or will take a break or are you planning something different? Tell us, how do you think this experience you went through will influence you as a band?

_Ouch, that's a hard one. I'm not a fortune-teller so I can never be sure what's going to happen. Ryan and I discussed it with the other band members and we reached the conclusion that we should take it easy for a while. Although I personally do not plan on stopping, not even briefly, with making music, I must say that toning the pace down and not forcing it will be necessary, I believe so at least._

Now that you have made this choice, what do you do during the day?

_I try not to think about what happened, most of the time, which is hard. I spent a lot of time reading. I work out when I really need to clear my mind. But for some reason you always find time to let your mind wander somewhere during the day and then it is quite easy to become completely occupied by it. According to Ryan I spend quite some time writing. I didn't really notice before he said that, but I find myself often writing things down. I don't really have any exact examples, but they're not exactly thoughts or some diary either. It's just that sometimes something gets stuck in my head and I need to write it down just to get rid of it._

Can you tell us anything about the experience itself? From what I understand you were locked up in an abandoned hotel with around a dozen of others, how was that?

_Well, as I stated before, I can't say much about it, but if I needed to give an impression of the situation, I must say that it was terrifying. I was locked up in there with, indeed, a dozen of others. No one had any clue as to why we were there or how we were supposed to get out. And all the while we were all too well aware of what was hanging above our heads. It was a pretty simple choice, either you risked scarifying everything you stood for, defined you, or you would pay the ultimate price. But such a simple sounding question turned out to be capable of turning normal, everyday humans into monsters the devil would be afraid of._

There has been news that there was an actual serial killer, the famous Birdsong Strangler, amongst the people you were locked up with, who was not the Seesaw, but he was really close to you, physically. Weren't you scared? And how do you think the Seesaw knew he was the Birdsong Strangler, since the police did not know the identity of this man until two weeks after you escaped the hotel?

_I really haven't got a clue. It's not my field of expertise anyway, but I guess it takes a killer to know one, or something like that. I can't really say I was more frightened when I found out that man was a serial killer. We were all already in a state of mind which was far beyond scared to death and above all, we already had been and were being chased by a serial killer, one more didn't really matter. The man was more preoccupied by getting out alive himself than killing us and only minutes after we found out he also was a serial killer, he was dead, so I don't think it really influenced the situation much._

Aside from the serial killer, word has been that among the people that were with you were also a devoted Christian, an aspiring model and a famous writer. Why do you suppose they were there with you?

_I… well… I don't even have a clue as to why it was me who had to go through such an experience… I couldn't… I can't say why they were there either._

That's understandable. Safe for you and your brother, there was one more person that was rescued from the works of the Seesaw. The face of the latest campaign to raise awareness of undiagnosed mental illnesses was also found alive. She was unconscious at the time she was rescued, but she woke up from her coma a few days ago. Have you contacted her in anyway?

_Yes, I have. Well, not quite. I made an arrangement to visit her after this interview, so I will see her in a few hours if everything goes well. She's a strange person to say the least, but she did really help my brother and me in the end. While I would be lying if I said I didn't lose some of my faith in humanity, I must say that she also helped to regain some of it. She was not the first person in there I would trust, but she turned out to be a very strong and determined person. I'm not allowed to go into the details, but I will say this: if it hadn't been for her, I, and I believe Ryan too, would never have made it out._

You sound quite taken with her. Is there perhaps something your not telling us about you and her?

_What? No! I won't lie. She saved me and helped me through all of it. But I don't feel anything for her, not even the tiniest bit._

You don't sound very sure, rather defensive actually. Are you sure you're not denying it?

_… I'm not denying anything, I'm telling you: I don't feel anything towards her but resentment._

Resentment? Just moments ago you told us she saved the lives of both you and your brother.

_It is not something that can be understood. Not if you have gotten to know people like I have. I don't plan on explaining it either. Now I would prefer it if you stopped asking questions about my love life, it is not something I plan on occupying myself with right now, and I agreed to this interview to clear up some things surrounding my situation and reassure my fans of our wellbeing, so I won't be answering anymore questions concerning anything beside that._

I apologize for upsetting you like that. You must understand it was not my intention. Let's move on to the last few questions before our time is up. The Seesaw is known for abducting people for particular reasons. Can you tell us anything about that? Do you know why he chose you and your brother and not anyone else?

_I would love to tell you, since then I'd know the answer to that too. In reality, I haven't got a clue. In the beginning I though that we were just there because we happened to be… how should I say it… convenient subjects for his tricks? For his plans? In the beginning I really had the idea that we were only there because we happened to fit into the plan he had laid out for others and there was nothing really that did not fit in this line of logic. But the longer we were there, the more I got the idea that we might be there indeed for some other purpose than because of others, but I don't really know. I can't say anything about that without any certainty._

I have just one last question before we bring this interview to an end. During the course of this interview, it has appeared that you are quite affected by this experience. How do you feel about that?

_I have to agree with that on more than one level. For starters, I can't really relax. I feel like I could be thrown back into that hell any moment, that the culprit is hiding in every shadow and around every corner. I'm constantly, unconsciously and unwillingly, looking out for him. According to my psychologist it is a common reaction and it will take time before I'm no longer completely on edge like this. But such an experience… It is not something you would be able to understand, nor anybody else… not if you haven't seen what I've seen. Something about it stays with you and you will always carry a part of it with you, whether you notice it or not, but something about it will always, always be a part your life and then you have to make a decision: will I allow it to become a part of me, or will I fight it until I have no strength left?_


	2. Card 1 - The Magician

Card 1 - The Magician

* * *

His eyes were still closed from what felt like a deep, long sleep, yet Jake felt absolutely exhausted. Just before his mind determined that he had awoken he noticed how his clothes felt too tight, almost painfully so, on some parts of his body. And most importantly he felt an intense pain around his mouth, particularly the area around his lips. When he tried to move his lips a bit, the dull pain turned into the most sharp, intense pain he could ever remember himself feeling. His instantaneous reaction to cry out only made this worse and for a few moments, which felt like mere hours, all Jake could do was hunch over as much as his restraints would let him, his eyes shut as tight as he could and supress the urge to scream. When he eventually managed to break this cycle he immediately let his head snap back and rest upon the chair he was tied to and looked up at where a ceiling had to be. The metallic taste of blood in his mouth made him feel nauseous beyond words.

Although the ceiling of the whole room was covered in darkness, Jake realised he could see his nose outlined in a faint red light. He looked down, to where his feet were resting on the ground saw the display of a digital clock.

_00:30_

For a few moments the clock was nothing but a strange addition to the situation. During that time it only appeared to Jake as an odd time; he had not expected it to be a half past midnight, although time in general was not something that really seemed important at this moment. Thinking about time made the whole situation only seem less real.

While staring at the clock, Jake noticed that the clock had been placed in such a way and under such an angle that it was perfectly facing him and for the first time he felt cold sweat build up on his forehead.

The position of the clock meant that someone must've thought this through, it left no doubt as for whom the clock was meant to face. It meant that someone must've planned this and, more importantly, it was likely that there was an exact reason as to why he was sitting there, and this was a most unsettling thought.

He started to breath heavily through his nose and tried to keep the more involuntarily lip movements as little as possible. The pain caused by twitching of his lips and the minimal lip movement swallowing was sharp and he could feel something trying to keep his lips together. It was not tape or anything of the sort that was keeping his lips shut, for that he could feel too much air freely touching his skin. When he tried to probe with his tongue at his lips, he could feel something rough, thin and slightly flexible at a few different points around his lips. Although he could deduce a likely explanation from that as to what was causing him this pain, he felt as though he could not admit such a possibility. He didn't want to believe it.

He looked back at the clock at his feet, wondering how much time must've passed and already questioning how long he would need to suffer like this.

_00:30_

The digits hadn't changed. At first this seemed to mean that less than a minute had passed. After that conclusion had become too unrealistic to believe, he thought that it must be a fault with the clock's inner workings. After that a third option came to mind: the clock was not displaying the time.

For some reason this did not seem unsettling. Even the question as to what it was displaying wasn't disturbing to him at all. If it was actually counting something, it was taking too much of a time to feel pressured about it now. After having come to this thought, namely that it was pointless to question the four digit number any longer, Jake looked up to his surroundings.

Just like they had appeared at first, everything seemed dark. He could discern two other sources of red light and in their glow he could see the vague outlining of, mostly the legs from, two other people.

Could one of those figures be Ryan? He remembered vaguely being with Ryan before going to sleep, whether or not 'sleep' actually had been going to sleep or something more… forced, by lack of a better expression.

He immediately felt conflicted about the question where Ryan was. On one hand he wished for Ryan to be somewhere safe and sound and hopefully searching for him frantically. Jake was, or at least did not consider himself, to be the kind of person to just wander off out of nowhere. On the other hand, however, Jake, with the afterthought that his reasoning was most egoistically, hoped that his brother was with him. He did not want to be alone like this. He needed to be around someone, someone he knew. He merely did not want to suffer here alone.

He let his head hang and tried to take steady breaths. He could feel a dark spiral of thoughts chasing him. They were not delusions caused by the stress or trauma of the moment, although they might have spurred on these thoughts. He tried to supress them, but, just like how people trying not to think about not thinking, he could only think of them more. The mere thought of the possibility that he would never be able to get out was suffocating him by itself.

He could feel his breathing become shakier with each moment and he could feel how tears tried to well up in his eyes and screwed them as shut as possible.

He tugged on his restraints. They gave way a little, but did not give him enough space to actually twist anything or strain anything enough to actually break away. Only his neck seemed to have no restraint, but seeing as to how both his upper arms and torso were locked into some vice and did not allow for any movement, he could not move his head anymore than he already had.

He tried to tug his hands through the tight band around his wrists, but this only lead to the discovery than he could move them back and forward for about and inch or so. Repeated attempts at doing this did not appear to make his restraints loosen up in any way.

With all of his fight or flight reflexes now rendered completely useless, Jake let his head hang. Although from the outside it might seem stupid to loose hope and it is almost considered a fact that he should keep trying to escape even in such a hopeless situation, from the inside despair was taking over rapidly and with that all rationality had long since been thrown overboard.

It might have been hours that he sat like that, deaf and blind to everything around him, but it might just as well have been minutes that passed by. With the absence of a properly functioning clock, time itself seemed to be non-existent in the room.

But no matter how much time had passed, Jake's isolation was ended when he could hear heavy footsteps coming from somewhere behind him. They sounded dull and when he heard a door creek open he realised that they had been coming from behind a wall. He could hear the door being shut and for he hear a heavy switch being turned. Jake, who had already decided that he would pretend to still be knocked out cold, braced himself for whatever was coming.

For a few moments nothing happened. Then he could see, or discern beneath his closed eyelids, that lights switched on. Everything made noise and even the lamps were buzzing, as if everything was more rundown than the most abandoned building anyone could ever imagine.

He could hear the figure whoever it was pace around the room with the heavy footsteps resounding on the metal floorboards. Two, when he held still, Jake could hear something metal clicking. When the footsteps turned his way, Jake only felt his muscles tighten even more, despite his effort to appear knocked out cold. Even if the figure noticed, he gave no sign of it. Not even when Jake could feel the figure doing something just behind him – this something was what caused the metal clicking noises – and was sure his heartbeat must echo throughout the room at a deafening volume, the figure did not respond.

The figure walked away and stood still once more at the middle of the room. The same metal clicking noises could be heard. After that however there were some other clicking noises, as if someone was pressing buttons and Jake could hear three things being set down on a surface. After all of that the figure made it's way back to the doors entrance.

When Jake heard the door close, he felt like he had to catch a glimpse of whoever had set him up in here. Going against his rational line of thought he threw all caution in the wind and looked.

Jake could only see the figure for a second before the door closed by forcing him neck to his limits by looking over his shoulder. The figure was already looking away, into whatever was behind the door, and could not see Jake. This did mean that Jake could only see that the figure had a dark, somewhat long hair. The figure appeared small and wore oversized clothing, a light grey vest stained with dark smears from which Jake did not want to know what in particular. In his left hand the figure was holding what seemed to be a grotesque pig mask.

After that slight glimpse, the door slammed shut and only a heavy door remained. He heard a slight click from outside and realised that it had been locked from the outside. Even if this posed a new obstacle in an already unlikely escape, Jake called himself lucky. The mask-wielding figure had left the light on.

In the harsh light now coming from the ceiling, Jake could see three – not two, like he had thought at first – other persons in the room. In the middle of the room, in a chair with a table in front of it, was a middle-aged woman, who must've been pretty at some point in her life, even if it was barely visible by now.

Right across of her was a teenage boy, a skinny one who didn't look all too healthy. He appeared to be comfortably asleep.

The last person in the room was Ryan. Although this might have been a relief for Jake, knowing where is brother was, had it not been for what had been done to him. Even from this distance, Ryan looked more horrible than he ever had before. His clothes looked dirty and stained by some dark spots and trails, from which Jake did not want to know where they came from. Ryan's face seemed to have been cleaned carefully, as if someone had taken great care in preforming a medical procedure on Ryan. The dark red treads keeping Ryan's eyelids together seemed to suggest that something along those lines indeed had happened.

Upon realising this Jake screamed as best as he could. Even when ignoring all the pain, the best he could produce was nothing but a loud whimper. Anyone who has ever tried to shout with his lips sealed would realise how impossible it is to actually scream. And not a moment later, Jake could no longer deny that his mouth must've been sewn shut.

Jake felt himself at his wits' end, if he had not reached that point long ago. There could not be a good explanation for all of this. Pain did not exist in dreams, even in nightmares, and therefore this could not be a nightmare. This was real. But there was no explanation for this. There just couldn't be a rational motive for any of this. And there was no easy way out of this, if any at all.

If Jake had had anything in his hands, he probably would've crushed it to pieces. By lack of objects within reach, his hands had gripped onto the chair he was sitting on, but the chair was too strange to actually get a good grip on, let alone crush it to pieces.

Some time after that, someone screamed.

Jake immediately looked up and noticed that Ryan was rolling his head around. He must've awakened and tried to open his eyes. He shook against his restraints even if it was futile.

"What's going on!" He screamed as he tried to reach for his eyes with his hands, even if they were tied to the chair. "Get me out of here!"

"Jake tried to call out to Ryan, but could, even when straining himself produce muffled noises, which by no way or means could reach Ryan's ears over his own shouting.

Jake realised that there was no possible way for them to communicate and could only watch his brother scream and try to tear the place apart. It was horrible to see. Ryan's eyes had become surrounded with small trails of blood, which left dark paths travelling down his cheeks. Jake realised that it must be difficult for him to keep his eyes shut, at least it must be more difficult than keeping his mouth shut.

"I don't care who you are, just get me out of here!" Ryan screamed on the top of his lungs, before letting his head hang and Jake could hear him take deep, but shaky breaths.

Another voice sounded through the room.

"Hey, what's…"

The woman in the middle had woken up and was looking from Jake to Ryan. Her eyes only rested for a moment on the other boy.

"Who… are you?" She said, a bit too spaced out to be taken completely seriously

"I'm Ryan," Ryan said. "Is there anyone else here? Who are you?" He shouted.

The woman, who looked quite disarranged, did not seem to have heard Ryan's shouting and seemed to only have eyes for something one the wall behind them.

Jake tried to hum loudly in order to gain her attention, but it seems futile.

In the end Ryan shouted to the woman: "Just get us out of here!"

The woman looked bewildered, but seemed to finally come to her senses. Her eyes finally settled on the table in front of her, on which were three objects. The first object was a sort of case with three buttons, another looked like the clock each of them had standing in front of them and the last object was a tape recorder with a note taped to it.

The woman looked at the three things as if frozen. She shakily reached out for the tape recorder. She pressed a button and a chilling voice filled the air.

_Hello Mary,_

_I want to play a game._

_People are always praising you. They respect the way you have been taking care of your deaf son, who's slowly dying of some mysterious illness. No matter how many times you drag him to the hospital, all tests come back negative. Yet you do not give up, no matter how much the doctors assure you that he's perfectly healthy. It's not him who's in need of help. It's you. And now it's time to see how much he's actually worth to you._

_The other two people in this room are both members of a world famous band. On the table in front of you is a device with three buttons. You will only be able to save two of the three people in front of you. Before the time runs out, you will need to press the button belonging to the person you have chosen to sacrifice. If the time runs out before you are able to make a decision, the one to pay the price will be you._

_People suffering from an illness often see the passing of time differently. It may seem to go faster or slower than it actually is. Don't take too long, your perception may be wrong._

_It's your choice._

The tape recorder clicked after the tape ended. Jake noticed how the woman looked from Jake to Ryan. She reached for the device on the table. Her hands were obviously shaking as she did so and she kept mumbling something to herself. She appeared to be clueless as to what to do.

But even then, everything seemed silent. Ryan was not saying a word and was obviously shaken by what he had just heard, but seemed to have lost his wits and was not shouting for now at least.

Jake wanted to plea for his and his brother's life, but was unable to. He found it hard to admit this selfish thought to himself, but he wanted to safe himself and his brother, not the unknown teenager left over. The teenagers still seemed to be completely out cold and had not taken notice of anything going on.

Everyone's line of thought was interrupted by a loud beep coming from their respective clocks.

_0:25_


	3. Card 2 - The High Priestess

_0:24_

Although highly unexpected, it was undeniable. The clock in front of Jake was counting down. Every second that ticked by was subtracted from the remaining time. This already nightmarish situation had token another turn for the worst and now that Jake could almost literally feel the end of his life nearing, in fact he could see his last seconds passing by, this whole situation had become something that he was only able to view from a distance. He felt detached from this world.

_0:23_

As if he were watching from another world, he could see Ryan struggling against his restraints, shouting, saying and whisper all sorts of incoherent sentences and words. Sometimes he said his own name, sometimes Jake's, but he never seemed to stop his struggle against his situation. Jake felt envious of him, both of the fact that Ryan struggled without giving up, 'fighting until the end' as if it were, and the fact that Ryan could not, although he must be able to hear the beeping that went with the passing of each second, see the clock on the ground in front of him.

_0:22_

Jake's thoughts felt empty.

_0:21_

Almost out of nowhere, the woman, Mary, started talking. She was most likely talking solely to herself, and as she went on her words became more and more frantic.

"This is… What have I done to deserve this? I never did anything wrong? I only wanted to do what was… right…"

_0:20_

"… This is wrong, I don't deserve this. I only did what is the best for him. He needed care, didn't he? He was sick, wasn't he? It's not my fault nobody was able to see what was wrong with him. I took him to so many doctors too…"

_0:19_

Suddenly it was as if her timid way of speaking and her caring personality did a full 180.

"It was his fault that nobody would tell me something was wrong with him. He always acted like I wanted to, always, always. He'd stay in bed for weeks when I told him he was sick and needed rest, but whenever I took him to a doctor, he'd always act like nothing was wrong with him…"

_0:18 _

"… Just as useless as his father, yes. He's deaf and needs help, but nobody would give it to him. Nobody would tell me that something was wrong with him. I wanted to save him. I needed to save him. But now…" Mary fell silent, thinking something over with a face devoid of all emotion on her face. She stared intently at the box in her hands.

_0:17_

Jake looked at the other boy. If that boy was indeed deaf, it'd explain why all the screaming from Ryan, who had also fallen silent for now, but who still tried to slip out of his restraints, had failed to wake him up.

_0:16_

"All I have to do… is press one of these buttons." Her fingers hovered over the buttons as she spoke. "All I have to do is to chose between him and them. If I press one of them away… So many people will see me as evil…"

_0:15_

"I'd have taken away something that brought them so much joy. I mustn't take away them."

_0:14_

"I'll just get rid of you." She said it with a scary sort of certainty. She was glaring at her own sun across of her. "You've cost me too much. My whole life… Always in the background, always."

_0:13_

"But then you came… Everyone suddenly admired me for being able to take care of a deaf son."

_0:12_

"But they didn't keep saying that forever… So I had to make them say it again and again. So what if you had to suffer for it a bit. I'm worth it. I deserve that."

_0:11_

Although Jake had now gotten to the conclusion that he was as good as saved, it scared him to see how this woman could talk with such hate about her own son, and yet she was still not done talking and continued, with only more malice in her voice.

"I'll just wait, in 15 seconds I'll press this button. I'll wait. I'll tell them that I couldn't wait until the last moment to make a decision."

_0:10_

"I'll say that the happiness of all those fans of those two was worth more to me than my own. People are stupid, they'll buy that. They'll believe me. I will become a saviour to them. I will get the attention that I deserve."

_0:09_

Jake's eyes were no longer fixed onto the clock in front of him, nor was he in the place that had made it feel like the whole world had been shut out. He was back to reality, but still he could not believe this to be real. This was a mother prepared to kill her own son, but for what? For nothing but attention.

_0:08_

Jake could feel his stomach turning. He felt disgusted with himself. Even if he didn't want to die, this woman was going to kill her own son, just so that people, his fans, would thank her for saving them. He never would've guessed that his fame would get him out of this situation and this was just sick.

_0:07_

The word became stuck in his head and his head entered a dazed stated. In his head he could only repeat to himself that all of this was just sick. It was fucked up. It was gross, horrible. It was inhuman to do this. To be made to do this.

The woman in the chair seemed to be waiting eagerly until the moment she had chosen to press the button, to end her son's life. She was mad. There was no doubt about it. She was mad. Even inside this whole madness, it was more than clear that she did not function like she was supposed to.

_0:06_

Jake wanted to call out, to yell at the woman to kill him instead if it meant saving the blissfully unaware boy. But even if he screamed, he doubted that she would change her mind. He wondered if she'd even noticed he and Ryan were conscious. He couldn't even scream in the first place. He'd have to tear his lips apart, even if he had the strength to do that, he doubted he would be able to do such a thing.

And even if he were able to call out to the woman, he wouldn't have.

_0:05_

"Ten…" the woman said.

_0:04_

"Nine…" Her grin became a smile becoming of a maniac.

_0:03_

"Eight…" Ryan shivered at hearing the woman count down, he couldn't see the clock, so for him it might as well have been minutes that remained as long as nobody told him the actual time left. It also meant that the only one who found the difference in time strange was Jake.

_0:02_

"Seven…"

_0:01_

The woman opened her mouth, but she never actually got to say another word.

_0:00_

With a jolt, her head snapped backwards. It stood like that for a moment, her eyes wide with sudden fear and realisation. Then it rolled to the side and the box with the three buttons on it slipped from her lifeless fingers and fell to the floor.

One more, two more, three more, four more… five more beeps echoed through the chamber, as if the clocks were still ticking and counting down towards destruction.


End file.
